DEEP PURPLE "Perfect Strangers" /CD/

Remastered re-release of the eleventh full-length album by the legendary British Hard Rock band.It represents the first album for eleven years recorded by the reunited, the most successful and popular 'Mark II' line-up (Ritchie Blackmore and Roger Glover arrived from Rainbow, Ian Gillan from Black Sabbath, Jon Lord from Whitesnake, and Ian Paice from Gary Moore's backing band), the last being "Who Do We Think We Are" in 1973. It was the first Deep Purple studio album in nine years. It is one of the better examples of a reunion album, although the band's uneasy camaraderie only lasted a few more years.Long before reunions became big-money pursuits, the key members of Deep Purple put aside differences that caused them to split in 1973 and, bowing not to financial concerns but public demand, reformed for their first album in 11 years and a subsequent blockbuster tour. While the record’s title cleverly acknowledges the long time the musicians spent apart, everything about the album confirms the inimitable blend of creative chemistry, crafty songwriting, and trademark skills shared by the five players.All the hallmark traits from Deep Purple’s golden era (1970-1973) are on display throughout this platinum comeback affair, which has aged much better than most mid-80s efforts in terms of sound, performance, and content. At times mystical, aggressive, and dramatic, "Perfect Strangers" leaves a lasting impression courtesy of Ian Gillan’s leather-lunged vocal range, Roger Glover’s self-assured bass lines, Ian Paice’s titanium-tough drumming, and the trade-off soloing between the wizard-like, vibrato-emboldened guitar playing of Ritchie Blackmore and voodoo-casting organ spells of Jon Lord.Compositions such as the hit “Knocking at Your Back Door,” hook-laden title track, and racing “A Gypsy’s Kiss” could be deemed products of a supergroup. Yet calling them so shortchanges the artistry, as the posturing asides and attention-getting episodes common to such projects aren’t here. "Perfect Strangers" is hard, heavy purity, the last album Deep Purple crafted of its kind and one that stands right up to the ensemble’s classic Fireball and Machine Head!The CD and cassette versions of the album contained the extra track "Not Responsible" (one of few Deep Purple songs with profane lyrics, as the word "fu***ng" can be heard in the song).The album was remastered and reissued on 22 June 1999 with the bonus instrumental track "Son of Alerik". This fascinating, mid-tempo, ten-minute instrumental was the B-side of the "Perfect Strangers" 12" single in the U.K., 1984.Thames Records, Ltd./Mercury, 1984/1999 (314 546 045-2). Made in USA.